It’s lovely and chilly Saturday morning in Toronto. I woke up around 7:30 am and just happened to check my email. Guess what I found ? an email from Square Enix titled “An important announcement to Final Fantasy XIV fans”. Here is the full email copy with my comments on it

Thank you for your continued interest in and support of FINAL FANTASY XIV.

While more than two months have passed since the official launch of FINAL FANTASY XIV service, we deeply regret that the game has yet to achieve the level of enjoyability that FINAL FANTASY fans have come to expect from the franchise, and for this we offer our sincerest of apologies.

Fair enough. It takes a lot for a big company like Square-Enix to admit their mistake and sincerely apologize. Not something that easily one can do, admitting their mistakes and apologize.

After thorough deliberation on how to meet those expectations, it was decided that the most viable step was toapproach improvements under new leadership and with a restructured team.

To realize this vision, and in doing so, provide our customers with a better game experience, we have assembled our company’s top talent and resources. Taking over the role of producer and director is Naoki Yoshida, a passionate individual for whom customer satisfaction has always taken top priority. Not only is he one of our Group’s most accomplished and experienced members, Naoki Yoshida is also a charismatic leader possessing the skill to bring together and effectively helm a team which encompasses a wide range of responsibilities. We also welcome several new leaders handpicked from other projects to work with the existing talent on FINAL FANTASY XIV.

We realize time is of the essence and are fully determined to provide our customers with quality service. It is because of this that we ask our customers to be patient until we are able to confidently present them with a concrete plan outlining FINAL FANTASY XIV’s new direction. The free trial period will be extended until that time.

Regarding the PlayStation 3, it is not our wish to release a simple conversion of the Windows version in its current state, but rather an update that includes all the improvements we have planned. For that reason, we have made the difficult decision to delay the release of the PlayStation 3 version beyond the originally announced date of March 2011.

The FINAL FANTASY XIV team is working hard to bring our customers an unparalleled adventure, and we ask for your continued understanding and support as we march ever diligently towards that goal.

I am glad that something is actually being done instead of just apologizing for their mistakes and new leadership and team is a good start. Even though I am really disappointed with how FFXIV turned out, I still believe that the game still has its potential and if only they polish it more before releasing it back on September 2010, it’s possible to success.

At least, they offer free subscription until they decide on their new redirection about where the game is going onward. However, with the team restructured, it’s unavoidable that PS3 version will be delayed until further announcement which is better than rushing it like they did on PC version.

President and CEO, Yoichi Wada
The development and management teams would like to make an announcement regarding personnel changes.

It’s about time that Yoichi Wada to take some actions on FFXIV and new fresh faces in FFXIV development team is a good start.

[Organizational Changes to the Development Team]
To improve the service of FINAL FANTASY XIV, Square Enix has made the following changes to the development team:

These members will make up the development team’s new core—a core dedicated to ensuring we achieve a level of enjoyability that will more than satisfy our customers. Under a schedule of more frequent version updates, the new leaders and their respective sections will strive for continued improvements to FINAL FANTASY XIV service operation and development.

[Extension of the Free Trial Period]
As stated above, the newly restructured team’s top priority is to bring about improvements to the game’s enjoyability, and therefore we have decided to extend the free trial period until we can provide a plan that outlines a level of enjoyment that will satisfy both us and our customers. When we are confident that we have reached that goal, we will notify our customers immediately.

[Future Version Updates]
At present, the development team is putting the finishing touches on the previously announced version update, which is still slated for release in mid-December. In addition, there is one more version update scheduled for release before year’s end. Details on the content and dates of these updates will be released in the near future.

[Delay of the PlayStation 3 Version Release]
Although the release date for the PlayStation 3 version of the game was previously announced as late March of 2011, we regret to inform that this date has been changed.

The PlayStation 3 release will be delayed until we are confident that the game has reached the level of enjoyability and service befitting the FINAL FANTASY name for users on all supported platforms. We offer our sincerest apologies to any fans anticipating the PlayStation 3 release, and humbly ask for your continued patience and understanding as both the development team and Square Enix as a whole strive towards making FINAL FANTASY XIV a truly enjoyable and unforgettable adventure.

When you have ‘Final Fantasy’ as part of a game title, you should have realized how much weight those two words carry. You are expected not only to provide us with an FF game but also its quality must at least on par with its predecessors (Final Fantasy I to XIII). Thank you for realizing that.

[New Development Team Policy]
I would like to take this opportunity to greet all of you—those currently playing FINAL FANTASY XIV, those who have taken a respite from playing, and those awaiting the PlayStation 3 release—and offer a brief word by way of an introduction.

No doubt there are very few, if any, among you who have ever heard the name Naoki Yoshida. To be sure, I have never been in the fore on any of the titles I have worked on in the past. I am, however, honored and privileged to work alongside many talented and inspiring colleagues, and with their support have enjoyed making games for a number of years. I am aware that a great many people will think the responsibility of leading FINAL FANTASY XIV is far too large a task for someone so unknown. After all, even my very best may seem no more than a drop in the bucket when considering the sheer scope of FINAL FANTASY XIV. But working together with me are the very talented and very capable development and management teams, whose dedication and motivation are unwavering. I would like to ask you to please put to rest uncertainties that you may have.

Now, more than ever, myself, the development team, and Square Enix as a whole, are committed to furthering our efforts to provide a quality service.

Everything we do will be for our players and customers.

FINAL FANTASY XIV Producer/Director, Naoki Yoshida

I don’t know who Naoki Yoshida is since there is not many information about him on the Internet other than the fact that he joined Square-Enix back in 2004. I’ll give him the benefits of doubt since he is a new face in FFXIV development team. Please put whatever you said into action and show that in the future updates for FFXIV. I’ll keep your word in mind and see if you live up to our expectations. No more empty promises. Thanks ^^;;.

First of all, I would like to apologize for our inability to fully satisfy our users with the initial release of FINAL FANTASY XIV. I take full responsibility for the games current situation, and have therefore made the decision to step down from my role as producer. A number of concerns that have been voiced by users, such as the design of the user interface, availability of tutorials and game content, and battle system functionality, represent key issues that must be addressed. While improvements are already well underway in many areas, we were unfortunately not able to incorporate player feedback as quickly as we would have liked. We are aware, however, that in many cases, addressing these issues will call for a reworking of game elements. As these changes are our first priority, they will be commanding our full attention and efforts. It is to that end that we have put a new organizational structure into place for the development team. Under this new system, FINAL FANTASY XIV will see changes and additions in line with the desires and expectations of players. Though no longer producer, I will be continuing to support the development team in other capacities, and personally hope that you will continue your adventures in the realm of Eorzea.

Hiromichi Tanaka

Please don’t be involved at all and GTFO. You clearly failed to deliver and gave us too many empty promises.

With the new development team, are you going to give FFXIV another chance ?

4 thoughts on “FFXIV Player Journal #4 : PS3 version delayed and Free Subscription Until Further Notice”

PWND. I sorta knew that heads will eventually start rolling. Good thing for the players though – since they can just keep on playing till SQE fixes things up – or return after they have fixed things up.

Final Fantasy really is quite a huge series for Square-Enix to bear, so it’s not surprising that fans have great expectations for the latest titles, and recent titles are often faced with disappointments.

I heard FFXI wasn’t so well shaped either when it first appeared in Japan, then they polished it a bit before making it available outside Japan, but there were apparently still bugs and stuff (or so I heard).

FFXIV here is released worldwide, and therefore in its very unpolished form it would receive much greater criticism and disappointment. So far it may seem like an ordinary MMORPG without significant breakthrough if it’s without “Square-Enix” or “Final Fantasy” stuck on them. There were worries of whether they have now become a shadow of what they have achieved with the more wide aclaimed titles in the past.

Well at least the Japanese know that customers are to be put on high priority, especially for the foreigners. “Down-to-knee” like apologetic messages are sent (just as the email I have received from their reply regarding my missing sticker of GSC 1/8 BRS animation version). Now let’s see (and hope) whether the change of staff will reshape the current FFXIV into a better game. It’s a huge responsibility for such a heavy burden to bear.

When FFXi was just released in Japan then North America, one of the major issues was time consuming in particular when you can’t level up without a group of people or playing a specific class, thus, a lot of people quit within a year or less. Despite all that, it still lived up to my expectation (at least) because story line (and cutscenes) is just incredibly awesome and gameplay is just great.

On the other hand, FFXIV was made by looking at their mistake in FFXI and they tried to gain more casual players but other aspects of the game left unfinished. Story line at least didn’t impress me at all and the fact that there is no Auction House in the game is just ‘WTF’ moment for me. As I always said to most of my friends that bashed FFXIV, it still has a potential and if Square-Enix spent more time polishing it, I am confident that it can be great game.

Despite their failure in FFXIV, I still had to give them a thumb for their apologetic email and admitting their mistakes. In addition, they did take some actions in attempt to correct their mistakes.

As you said, no doubt that a heavy burden was put on the new team’s shoulder in order to carry ‘Final Fantasy’ and ‘Square Enix’ name back where it belongs. I do hope they listen to players’ feedback from various FFXIV forums but only time can tell ^^